Police and military raids in low-income communities in Venezuela are leading to allegations of widespread abuse, the Venezuelan Human Rights Education-Action Program (PROVEA) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy websites] said in a joint report [text] issued Monday. Titled “Unchecked Power: Police and Military Raids in Low-Income and Immigrant Communities in Venezuela,” this report outlines allegations [press release] including extrajudicial killings, mass arbitrary detentions, maltreatment of detainees, forced evictions, the destruction of homes and the arbitrary deportation of Colombian nationals. The abuses are connected to “Operation to Liberate and Protect the People” (OLP), the Venezuelan government’s anti-crime initiative which began in July 2015 to combat the presence of criminal gangs and has since resulted in the deaths of 250 people.

Unemployment is rampant in Venezuela, and an economic boom in 1970 led to a recession that crushed the middle class and lowered the living standards of poor, who constitute approximately 60 percent of the population. The Venezuelan High Court and General Assembly have been at odds recently, as the court is heavily influenced by the government [JURIST reports]. An anti-government party is prominent in the assembly, contributing to the climate of unrest. In 2014 the UN Human Rights Chief called for an end to violence in Venezuela [JURIST report] and urged all parties [official statement] involved to move towards meaningful dialogue in hopes of resolving the situation.